First order is in!

I guess technically first *2* orders. :)

I was talking to dh and he was telling me how great the new math program is. I had already been planning on using it for dd, but he gave me even more info. He'll be teaching gr. 7 math next year and will have all kinds of teacher resources available that I can use. Plus, he said I should get the workbook. I didn't even know there was a workbook because Learning Resources Centre doesn't have it. Went to Chenelière and found the workbook; also added in a gr. 4 workbook of the same program for ds AND found grammar workbooks for each of them. My orders for both places have gone in. Woo hoo! I'm so excited already to start the next school year. lol

I still need to decide what to do about science and social studies. I may head over to Montessori Research and Development for at least a starting idea. The same topics can be presented to ds and dd, but just have dd go further. I've looked at some middle school Montessori sites but nothing has really clicked for me.

Almost done!

The school year is almost officially done! It's nice, yet at the same time, kind of funny, since I'm restarting working with my 2 on Monday and am planning on doing more Montessori with my nieces and having educational/fun activities (maybe science-based) at least a few times a week for my nephew and ds! I have decided to do some inner preparation and have taken out 2 Montessori books I saw at the library tonight: Montessori in the Classroom and Montessori in the Home: the Preschool Years. Of course, I have something like 10-15 other books out to read, not including recipe books...

--

Bob's schooling for next year is somewhat falling into place. He seems at peace with what he's decided and the plan for him to take 4 or 5 years to finish what is normally 3 years of high school. He's also kind of "getting it" that he chose not to work to his ability this year and his report card will show that. So, for next year, correspondence through a homeschool school (yes, that's right; Albertans most likely know what I mean ;) ), with him taking 26 credits instead of the typical mandatory 40 credits for in-school students. Frankly, *I* find it a relief that he will only be doing part-time essentially. He's doing math (one course each semester), science (one course each semester), ELA (will probably take all year with me supplementing for his basic skills work and to prep him to be able to move up to a higher ELA level) and a course that deals with photography and other types of media (all year course, although only 1 credit, so very light!). I am confident that a rule can be easily instituted and followed, without him feeling overwhelmed, that he do his science, math and English every morning and can have the afternoons free for us to do more project-type stuff (like his media course), more "homeschooling" stuff rather than just coursework. The correspondence is just part of his education; he needs more than that!

--

Dd has chosen to NOT do the APS science 7. She thought she *had* to for some reason. I said no. So now I have to figure out what to do with her for science. I have picked out her German resources for next year and have an order form ready for that and her math. Still need to make a more specific plan for ELA, French, and social, and now science.

---

Ds is a little reading machine. I can't believe this is the same kid who, in September, really wasn't reading at all. He read aloud more than half a book on spiders to me tonight. Almost no errors, great fluency. One of the pages he read to me (p. 16 from "Spiders" by Nic Bishop):

A spider does not have a nose or ears, at least not like you do. Even so, it has extraordinary senses all over its body. Take a close look. You will see this spider is covered with hairs. Many of these sense touch, vibrations, and sounds. Hairs on a spider's legs can sense the sound of a flying insect. Other organs on the feet can smell and taste things just by walking on them. A spider can even recognize the taste of its own silk by touching it.

What I want to know is this: HOW THE HECK DOES HE KNOW ALL THOSE WORDS??? Like extraordinary and recognize? I had spent the previous months only reading to him in French, so it's not like he was seeing words like that as I read them. Which begs the question: how does he know ANY of those English words? The only two words out of all the pages that he asked me how to read were enough and chitin (which even I didn't know--it's pronounced ki-tin (kind of like kite-in)).

--

With summer approaching and me being woefully bad about recording stuff that the kids did this past year, I decided I would use Homeschool Tracker and train myself over the summer to use it, at least for my 2. I discovered, however, that it's not compatible with a Mac unless you install some program that allows you to access Windows (which you install separately). Seems like kind of a pain. I might just try to get used to using the laptop for it all. Although, I think I need a journal that I keep out and write in, and then plug everything into the computer in the evening. At some point, start switching over the responsibility of recording to them--like in many Montessori schools and like the 3 oldest used to do!

Next year thinking

Don't I do this every year? Start planning out next year before this year is even done? :) I actually started a few weeks back. Decided to take it up again this evening and am looking specifically at dd's gr. 7 year. (OMG! Did I just write that?? GRADE **7**!)

Math/Science

She wants her papa to be somewhat in charge of her math and French, which will basically just mean that he says, "Do this," and then she shows him. Because he no longer teaches grade 7, he might not be able to set up quizzes and tests for her (yes, she WANTS to do that!), but I can always put things together and he assigns them to her. ;) Although I think we do have a test bank for the science program from when he was teaching gr. 7 science. We're hoping he'll be able to borrow some textbooks from the school, but if not, it turns out these 2 texts aren't too expensive. She will be doing the new grade 7 math program using the French text and the French science text used in schools here.

German

I've looked at authorized resources for our public schools here and think I've picked on a program that actually looks good and that isn't too difficult for me! ;) She wants some structure and doing more stuff and this particular program comes with a text, a workbook and 2 audio cd's--which means she won't have to rely on my pronunciation. My pronunciation isn't bad, but it's certainly not the "real thing".

English

She's doing so well in terms of the amount she reads and her writing... I don't know that I would want to encourage her to do much more other than perhaps spelling and grammar. And show her how to do an essay. I could also give her the link to the recommended jr. high/sr. high books for schools here and she could find some books to read.

French

Now that's a toughy. I want to do more formal spelling and grammar with her but not sure what approach to take yet. 

For reading, I thought about finding out what texts they use in schools here, but that was hard to determine and I decided probably not worth it. My idea is that we can find 2 copies of French books from the library and choose a title to study together. We can do it as kind of a reading group format. We could also keep a vocabulary journal for the words we don't know. I'm discovering that children's French literature has a whole ton of words I don't know, especially the translated-from-English books. It's truly atrocious how difficult the translators seem to want to make the books. A gr. 2/3 English book can end up being a gr. 5 French book after translation! 

For writing, I'm thinking of reinstating Writing Workshop with her and including ds and my niece into it. I think it would be a good collective, relaxed approach, with no pressure, which is what both my kids need right now in terms of making progress in writing in French.

Social studies

I haven't a clue. I keep saying I want her to learn world geography, but never follow through. I should maybe find some sort of program/curriculum, even if it's just for ME to be able to say to her, "Go do a project on this." I'd like her to have a sound knowledge of world geography. I'd like her to know a good deal about Canadian history. Other than that, a general knowledge of history, big events and people... I think I need to find some sort of a sequence somewhere I can follow instead of trying to think up in my head who knows what.

Other than that, I guess there's art (she might take art classes; we also have some good art instruction books; could also do art appreciation; I've got various resources on seasonal and holiday crafts), music (she doesn't want to be told to do anything in this area; however, I could still plan a sort of music appreciation and I know she always plays more instruments when *I* start playing again), phys. ed. (she might do gymnastics again, but she wants to try karate or other martial art), health (do I really need to do anything? actually, I've got an A Beka health book I could encourage her to look through)... 

What else does someone do in jr. high? Home ec.; she already does sewing on her own and has been doing more cooking with me. I'd really like to encourage her to do typing, but I think that will only happen if she sees me doing a typing program, too. There's also other computer learning, but she already usesFor the Montessori aspect of it, I'd really like to find a way to have her volunteer or otherwise be involved in the community. I'll need to look at some Erdkinder ideas. I actually had some great ideas a month or so back when I was reading something and now the ideas are totally gone. *sigh*

Diplomas

From http://www.edweek.org/ew/marketplace/webinars/webinars.html

At a time when only seven in 10 American students are leaving high school with a diploma, President Barack Obama is demanding that the nation lift its educational sights by asking all Americans to commit to at least one year of education after high school. 

My initial reaction is: So what?! 

Followed by: Why is there such a focus on a diploma instead of on an education?

Frankly, I've reached a point where I couldn't care less if my kids get a high school diploma. That may come across as shocking, but a diploma, at least here, means covering some very specific things that the government has decided upon. It's not so much a high school diploma as a provincial diploma for high schoolers.

There is a mistaken notion that a diploma *means* something more than it actually does; that by having a diploma, you are somehow better educated than someone who doesn't have a diploma.

Nonsense.

Thomas Edison never had a diploma. He was probably better educated by the age of 12 than any of our students today graduating with diplomas.

Having a high school diploma provides an indication of having done certain coursework required in your area. It speaks nothing of the actual level of your education.

Not to mention the fact that you can barely pass the courses (which is 50% here) and still get your credits and your diploma. How does that mean you are educated? And what about the fact that so much of the school work is cram, cram, cram for the exam, and forgotten about shortly after? Somebody did a very small study here a few years back taking students who had done very well on their diploma exams. I think it was 4 months (it wasn't more than 6 months) after they did the exams, they were asked to redo the same exams they had done. They had no prior notification and were therefore not able to study. Needless to say, they did not do as well. Most of the exams were barely passed or were failed. What had those students actually learned? Their transcripts said they'd learned the stuff well; the follow-up exams disagreed.

And then, the actual content of the courses can be somewhat pitiful. It's so focused on cramming as many diverse topics as possible within a course that often it doesn't go into deeper detail to provide true understanding. I can't count the number of times the 18yo has asked me some deeper question about her biology. She's got to try to remember a ton of different things, yet would she not actually be better educated if she had the opportunity to really go in-depth on fewer things?

It feels somewhat like the diplomas of today are reflective of our materialistic culture: more, more, more.  It doesn't matter these days if things are true quality (remember how TVs and toasters and toys were QUALITY and lasted for years and years and years?); the focus is that a ton of stuff be covered so that surface-wise, it can appear that our students know oh-so-much, what the government of Alberta calls on their website "high quality curriculum".

Yeah, whatever. Especially since to be grammatically correct, it should be "high-quality curriculum".

Not much to say!

Things have been slow going. I did pull out the sandpaper letters for my niece and she wants to do them ALL. I showed her some--and then ds went and showed her others that she wanted to do. :) Since she had already started writing in print, I have been showing her the print, while still offering the cursive. Sometimes she asks for the cursive after seeing it in print. If she asks for the cursive, she will then attempt to write letters in cursive on paper afterwards. Fun stuff!

With a 4-day Easter weekend and then "Bob" gone these past 2 days for a dive trip, it just hasn't felt like we've been able to get into any routine. I've realized, though, that I haven't exactly worked out specifics for a routine to follow. So I've started writing out some stuff and will treat Monday like a new beginning. Bob, I think, is really craving structure and dependable routines right now. He appears to be going through some stuff right now and being more specific and explicit and structured with him feels like the right way to go. It's always hard figuring out that balance: when does direction become too much?

Other than that, we've been to the museum today, checking out (yet again!) the penguin exhibit. The 18yo hadn't seen it yet. It's great! Gotta love those year passes that allow you to go as often as you wish. ;)

He's done it again!

My only-recently-decided-to-read 8yo son has done it yet again!

Out of the blue this morning, during a time when he's usually playing, he said to me he wanted a "big" book that he could read. Now, understand that he's not really read ANY books, just little things here and there. I asked him how big. I offered him a couple of gr. 2-3 French books and even offered the first Harry Potter in English. I went about trying to find some other books in our shelves during which time he settled upon Harry Potter.

Well, the darn kid sat down on the sofa for probably the next 45 minutes or so and READ. I asked him at one point how it was going and at what part he was at. He told me what was going on. He's not reading super quickly, but he's definitely reading it. I told him he amazes me. He asked why. I said, "Well, has anybody ever sat and taught you to read in English?" He smiled. "No." "Well, that's why you amaze me. Everything is just clicking on its own."

Gotta love being able to let him dictate his pace!!!!

Spring break is done

Our spring break is officially done. I have today to get everything ready. But I have to be careful: I've been catching myself this week at trying to add too much in for next week. Let me think "out loud" here a bit:

*It's Holy Week--must have some Easter things prepared. (Like what? my brain is asking me.) Well, um... Crafts for sure. Maybe the Stations of the Cross or daily Bible readings. Or both. lol.

*The 18yo--she needs to know what to get done this week, and I need to have things ready for that (math and bio, plus I need to read in Pride and Prejudice so we can discuss and I'm prepared for questions that she asks).

*"Bob" needs to have a list of what work to do this week.

*I managed to show my niece one Montessori thing this past week. That seems like a reasonable goal at the moment! lol. So, this week, I will show her some sandpaper letters. :)

*I feel like I need a checklist for myself, a checklist of all the things I should at the very least think about doing on a given day for school stuff.

Other things I wanted to add in: Choice Theory info, read to them from Success Principles for Teens, daily or almost-daily spelling, math facts and pre-algebra "quizzing" together, daily meetings to deal with routines and issues... I think I need to decide what feels most important and just do one of these this week.

Okay, gotta get to work!

Haha

My 4yo niece was in search of something to do so I pulled out the insets and showed her how to trace around the inside shape and then fill in the shape. Of course, that means the 3 oldest are also now doing insets...

4 days left!

We are sooooo already into Spring Break mode. I was going to try to get, or rather encourage, Bob to do a lot this week to catch up more, but we are all so very ready for a break and the weather is finally improving and we're seeing sun and some melting... He must, must, must get a math test done this week. How to tie Choice Theory into it so that he motivates himself to study? Gotta think about that one. Maybe I'll just brainstorm here:

*So, you have this math test to do this week. How well would you like to do on it? What do you think a student would have to do to make sure that they get that mark?

I need to put together a sampler of the types of questions he will have to do on the test. Maybe see, too, if there are some online games or activities that he can do. He hates writing, doesn't pay super attention when I'm showing him or explaining to him (because he doesn't really want to be doing it...), so it'd be helpful to find some other venue.

The 18yo is probably in Poland right now. I think she is heading to Auschwitz tomorrow. What an experience! To get back to schooling, I do need to start working on her plan for the end of the year--she's got a lot of work to cover given our Feb. and March were so slow and she's been gone. I also want to look at Choice Theory and how I can incorporate it to help her motivate herself. I think she is a "house divided": she does want to go into nursing, but she wants to wait a year; on the flip side, she doesn't want to disappoint her parents or cause further problems so she feels she "has to" go to university next year. I think the struggle between the two is creating some motivation issues. Not doing well enough to get into the nursing program may hurt, but it also means that she would not be able to go to university next year... I don't think she's consciously choosing it, just that there's this internal struggle.

I've also been seeing a lot of control issues with all of the kids the past while. I was aware of it before reading about Choice Theory and really seeing it now. I need to present Choice Theory to them if I'm to see some significant changes around here. I just don't know how! (Charlotte, help! lol) I also think that perhaps the two oldests' perceived control by their parents is affecting them in their school work. The 18yo said to me at one point this semester that she wants it all laid out, what she has to do each day, etc. She doesn't want to be the one to lay it out--I think she's so used to having things decided for her, she's maybe not as ready as she once used to be to take charge. Of course, I also need to do some self-examination and see how much I may be using controlling language myself.

One week until spring break

I have one week of school left with my dd, ds, "Bob" and my 2 nieces. Bob's got a math test to do this week and some catching up. Dd and ds... I haven't really thought about their week yet. Dd is at a sleepover at a friend's (the 3rd night! I'm missing her!) and I won't be getting her until tomorrow afternoon so I don't really need to think about work for her for in the morning. Ds tends to work after supper. The (now!) 18yo is in the Czech Republic at the moment, although I do want to get moving on intense coursework for when she comes back.

In any case, that leaves me a week until spring break. I don't have the two oldest during spring break (not unless the 18yo really wants to do some work that week and needs help), but I do have both my nieces as well as their 8yo brother. I don't want it to just be a free-for-all--I know what can happen. Besides, there are so many great things I could invite them to do! But I'm having trouble of thinking of them. ;)

So, I invite people to share some interesting educational/explorational things I could do with the kids during spring break. At the moment, I do know that I want one day to be a Cupcake Day--I have a fantastic book called "Hello, Cupcake!" and we can try out some fancy cupcakes. We may also have one of dd's friends over one day and another one over another day. Hm... I might have more kids around here than I had realized. :) It's all good! I seem to have a need for lots of kids. lol.

Back to what I was saying: Share some ideas!! What would you do with an 11yo, 2 8yo's, a 4yo, a 16mo and possibly a 10yo or a 12yo during spring break?

There IS more to say!

Okay, I completely forgot to share about my son's reading progress.

Something clicked in me that his way of doing things is to observe, then do. So, instead of having him read to me each day, we've been trying to do more of me reading to him and I'll keep my finger under the words. Somehow, everything is clicking more, even for English even though I've only been reading to him in French. He's reading all kinds of crazy English words and doing very well in French. He's now started trying to write more things. Of course, he HAD to be "backwards" in terms of Montessori and prefer to do the reading before the writing... He's actually initiated copywork. How can I complain about that? :D

What to say?

It's been a while. Crazy. Since my last posting, I've had shingles, we've had uncooperative weather, illness, tiredness and not a whole lot of work getting done.

I'm still reading about Choice Theory and loving it. It's still not all really clicking just yet, but it's getting there.

I really want to figure out how to set up my day differently so that I can start doing lessons with my 4yo niece. She has been super keen on writing letters and even decided, on her own, to copy "Harry Potter" off of my dd's book. She did an amazing job. It's time to get serious about letter knowledge with her!

Gatorade

While I have  Montessori from the Start out from the library, I have not yet been able to sit down and read through it to get some ideas for my 14mo niece. Today, she was into EVERYTHING--pulling down CDs and books and trying to get at the laptop and snooping through the 17yo's bag and stealing her metal water bottle. She (my niece) took the bottle over to the kitchen sink, held up the bottle and made some noises for our attention. She wanted to drink water! It was so wonderful to see--the kids were so impressed that such a little creature with so few words can still clearly let us know what she wants.

This idea of a bottle clicked in my head and I grabbed clean Gatorade bottle and the top off the counter and gave it to her. She must have spent the next 30 minutes putting the top on, twisting slightly, taking it off, "drinking" from it, putting the top back on... At one point, she took her own bottle--one of those little Rubbermaid containers with straws--and put it at the top as though she were pouring water from her bottle into the Gatorade bottle. She'd then "drink" again from the Gatorade bottle and continued putting the top on and off. At one point, she got the top on too well and couldn't get it back off, which caused a bit of fussing on her part. It was so much fun to watch!

Montessori from the Start

I've had to put a request in to the library for Montessori from the Start: my younger niece has become TROUBLE! She's 14 months, doing her own form of scooting, but pulling herself up anywhere and everywhere and touching all kinds of things she shouldn't, like the laptop. Yes, yes, I know Montessori is all about the environment, but the environment is our home and school and there are certain things that can't be moved (like the electric piano covered with a homemade wood top) and are a horrible inconvenience if moved (like the laptop). If I can provide more suitable activities to attract her attention, perhaps I can have her avoid things like grabbing onto the piano lid that can come crashing down on her...

Montessori Today

I have Montessori Today: A Comprehensive Approach to Education from Birth to Adulthood out from the library. I've actually had it out for a couple of weeks. In any case, I sat down last night and started reading it. It feels so good. :) I had been reading a Sudbury book and while part of me is very pulled towards that model, at the same time, I see clearly how that model works best when you have a LARGE multi-aged group of kids. I also really feel that adults can definitely be more involved in guiding kids than simply waiting for them to ask. I didn't learn to skate because I asked my mom; she simply said one day, "Let's go skating!" (Admittedly, I fussed and moaned and said I couldn't do it while she was present on the ice. She took off to the bathroom, during which point I learned to skate. :) ) I think Montessori provides that balance of, "Hey, here's something I'd like to show you," but then you back off and let the child decide how far to go with it.

My Montessori plans for today? To read more. It's Friday, I may very well have my nephew again today (he's been not feeling super great the past couple of days), and that throws off the general routine of the house. We were supposed to be out this afternoon for snowboarding lessons, but with a high of -26 predicted, we are NOT going. Let's see, I can be more creative than that. Okay, I'll invite my niece and ds to plant cleaning (you use a little bowl of water, a Q-tip and a small square of paper towel). Ds (8yo) already knows how to clean plants, but he loves it and would enjoy showing dn (dear niece :) ). She's also got into cutting, so if I could find those pages that one mom/Montessori teacher sent me, I could put those out for her, too.

:)

Um, well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

I did start doing some Montessori with my niece, but I have to admit to it not lasting long. We ended up having sick kids in the house and just lots of busy-ness. For a long time!

The oldest's exams are almost entirely done for this semester and we are now on a bit of a downtime. It's a perfect time for me to really figure out some things in terms of Montessori and homeschooling.

I have NOT been reading Montessori as I had been and know that if I want to implement it more, I need to read more. The reading helps create the vision in my head of how things can be and I need that vision to be able to really do something.

The multi-aged group I have, with the different (non-Montessori) programs, makes Montessori difficult. At the same time, if I spent more time reading Montessori, perhaps a vision of how to fit it all together would work!

So, there we go, my plan for this next week is to read, read, read in search of a vision to how things can be smoother around here.

It is time

It is time for me to get moving on the Montessori with my 3.5yo niece. The honeymoon period is over and she hit on Friday the "I want something new and fun to do." Seriously, I'm not joking. She asked me if I'd take her into the basement so she could find things that were "more interesting"--her words! Toys often only take a child so far. Here are some things I can show her/have ready for her this week:

*pouring beans
*pouring water
*spooning
*sorting a mixture (maybe popcorn and cheerios to start with)
*buttoning--I have a home-made frame somewhere, but not sure if the frame itself is intact; I also don't know where the fabric is, so I need to locate that
*I could show her zipping by putting her coat on a chair...
*geometrics solids presentation
*sensitizing the fingers
*pull out a different cylinder block
*give her a folder with scrap paper she can cut up
*I need to think of other crafty stuff: she loves crafty stuff

My big issue is where to have the materials. With a 1yo (this coming Wed.!) in the house, it makes things a little more complicated! I live in an open 4-level split where the lower level is practically connected to the main level and I used to be able to make my way back and forth from lower to main and there wouldn't be big problems. It seems like whenever I leave the main level now, things fall apart. I guess instead of living in "fear", I ought to just do what I think will work for my niece--have the materials available for her in the lower level, which the baby gate prevents her sister from getting to--while encouraging my son to do things downstairs near her, and let the upstairs have problems so that we can tackle the underlying problems. That sounds good, actually!

I must get myself off to the store if I'm going to have enough trays and replace the dressing frame (aka wood embroidery hoop ;) ), not to mention have crafty stuff available for all of us.

Remember, remember...

the 5th of November....

And I didn't. lol. I knew Guy Fawkes Day was coming up, but on the 5th, I didn't know it was the 5th, and so I forgot and we did nothing for Guy Fawkes Day as part of our school day.

How could this happen?

ILLNESS.

I've been rather successfully fighting stuff off for a couple of weeks, but it's still lightly there, just enough to be annoying. I've seen it in my kids, too, as well as with Bob.

The 17yo was sick, sick, sick. Started over a week ago, was not at all well on Monday, was even worse on Tuesday and then moreso on Wed. Caught her dad's stomach flu on top of her nasty cold.

School is still sort of going. I did an hour one-on-one in the evening this Thursday with ds and it went sooo well. Then we just hung out. He asked if we could do that every night. lol. I think we definitely have to do it more often. Bob is plodding along ever so slowly but it's still going reasonably well. The 17yo was hoping to be completely caught up this past Friday, but being as sick as she was, that didn't happen. Dd is still needing me to give her work. She's hit the looming adolescent insecurity, I think. That, or I'm just not inspiring enough! I think insecurity is playing a big part. She used to write stories constantly; now she's not as interested because she has hit a point that she wants to actually finish them (she has always just written and written and written and then stopped because a new story idea has come up) but she just doesn't know how. I probably need to sit with her one-on-one here and there to work things out together.

That reminds me: I was reading "From Childhood to Adolescence" which inspired me to get some books out dealing with water life--coral reefs, interesting animals, etc. I put them out on the table and 3 out of the 4 school kids could not but help pick a book that interested them and flip through. :)

Things are going well having 6 kids in the house again. It's been good to have a baby again--she needs to take naps which forces the house to be calmer, quieter, a couple of times a day.

Bob, the little turkey (actually, he's not so little--he'll be taller than me any day now), is reading better in English, but still struggles quite a bit and with words that make you wonder, "Why? He can read that word, but not this easier one?" But that's not what makes him a turkey. I was looking at a French Scholastic flyer the other day with dd and the 17yo (in pdf) and he was standing behind them. All of a sudden, he reads out, "Nouveau! Nouveau! Nouveau!" !?!?!?!?!?!?!? He has not really had any French reading instruction and what little he's had has not been in the past year, and it's not like French phonetics in the word 'nouveau' matches with English at all. THAT is what makes him a turkey. ;)

The 17yo is covering WWII at the moment. We watched Schindler's List as part of it. What an amazing story. I know things didn't quite play out the way they showed in the movie, but still. I'm saddened by the fact that after the war, he never did manage to get his life together. :( Seems like such a shame.

Dd is doing a second session of gymnastics this fall. She took gymnastics when she was 6, made it through 3 or 4 levels (couldn't remember and couldn't find her sheets), had a long hiatus, so went back into level 3/4 for Sept./Oct. The coach for that one decided she was in level 3 and only assessed her for level 3, so she went back to 3/4. After 2 weeks there with a different coach, the coach spoke to me yesterday and told me to get her into a level 5 class because the 3/4 is too easy for her. :D Dd was VERY happy. So now she goes Wed. evenings from 6-8 and I get my Saturday mornings back! This is good because ds has a soccer game pretty much every Saturday afternoon, overlapping with dh's soccer, so I'm the one to bring him.

All right, enough of this Sunday morning babble. Besides, ds is complaining he needs food. :)

Mix of stuff

Our visit to the downtown library yesterday was interesting, as was to be expected. We saw some "interesting" things take place (like a few kids, maybe gr.8 -gr. 10, removing a garbage bag outside, placing their own bag in the bottom, then sitting around for a bit...) and some "interesting" people. Some of the interesting people made us rather nervous as they kept watching us in the library, including a couple sketchy characters we had earlier seen outside. But then I noticed the one librarian and custodian kept looking at us as they went by, too. We're not a freak show! At least, I don't think we are... ;)

Today, I had all 6 kids all day for the first time. It went sooooo well. My almost 1yo niece is such a happy-go-lucky baby and there were no issues. It's the first time she's ever been away from her mom that long and we had no problems whatsoever. Very nice. :) (Actually, there were some issues between a tired ds and a tired 3yo niece, but that's other stuff.) I love having 6 kids again!

I managed to start reading "From Childhood to Adolescence" tonight! I finished one of my library books earlier today, sent another one back I decided I wouldn't finish and just as I was heading out to ds's soccer practice, I decided to grab a book to read and saw FCTA. It's very nice to be reading Montessori again. I always feel, "This is the way I want to go with my kids." But taking theory and applying it can be two entirely different things. :\

A stop-in

Has it really been 12 days since I last posted? Man.

Life has been crazy. My calendar, as the 17yo has described it, looks like a Christmas tree due to the various things written all over in different coloured pens: field trips, days here and there with my nieces, soccer meeting, soccer practice, soccer game, gymnastics every Saturday, dh has school meetings, I had a hs group meeting, birthday party, Thanksgiving out at the lake and then at my mom's, an upcoming social evening with a hs group, Halloween, ds's Reconciliation preparation meeting and classes... That's just October. And that doesn't count all the stuff that's had to be done on the side, like emails and dealing with this and that. It's been crazy. I'm sooooo looking forward to November! Yes, there will still be soccer Tues. and Sat. for ds, and gymnastics on Sat. for dd, dd will be continuing her Wed. sewing lessons (but her grand-maman tends to take her and bring her back, which is very nice and appreciated), and ds will have some more Reconcilation classes and I'll have a hs group meeting. Oh, and I want to attend this thing called XLT that is going to happen on the 13th. But it feels so much calmer. lol. We'll have a birthday party at the end of the month and I'll be having my nieces full-time, but it's still calmer in terms of the weekday and weekend things going on.

School ended up with a bit of a hiatus a couple of weeks ago, but the 17yo worked hard last week and is just about caught up, her brother had his first math test since grade 3 (he's in grade 9) and it took him 6 hours to complete because he'd just get too frustrated and would take very, very long breaks ;) (he didn't have a time limit and the teacher said they could take breaks if needed). Dd is still inspirationless so I've been creating different quick assignments for her to do in geography and French. She had her initial resistance, but it seems to be going well. I have not managed to read more Montessori, however it's still in my mind. I do have one book out right now, "From Childhood to Adolescence", and will work on reading that these next couple of weeks. Get *myself* inspired a bit. :) Ds is still doing his thing! lol. He very much enjoys us reading together at night and has started trying to read a little bit on his own. He's been working a bit more on copying and writing and then in his new math workbook. I want to work on the seasons with him because he seems to think there is spring, summer and winter. Or that as soon as there's frost in the morning, it means it's winter.

Tomorrow we are going to spend the morning working at the library. I'm going to have the kids write out a plan of what they're going to do there and to plan what we'll do about distractions and all that. I don't have my nieces and this is about our last chance before we have a 1yo in tow all the time!